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Aftermath and New Orders
Ratbat is reclining in a comfortable chair, watching multiple feeds of news and financial reports at once. He's drawn the shades and has made certain that guards are posted outside, ready at a moment's notice to deal with intruders. He has matters of -consquence- to attend to, and they are all dealing with one of his employees. "I trust you appreciate the difficulty of my situation," he begins calmly, as security feeds bring up black and white video fo Soundwave participating in the Institute raid. "I had to spend a significant amount of political capitol to have you edited from the news feeds." Soundwave stands there, silent and unreadable as usual. His dark blue paint job just blends into the shadows, and right now his red optic visor is the brightest thing about him in the room. If he is at all nervous, he's not letting it on. "I do." His voice is flat and monotone (also per usual), not giving anything away. Ratbat sighs and lifts his hand to his temples as if to rub them. "/Tell/ me you are not going 'native', Soundwave. After everything I have done to lift you out of the scum of the ghettos, after I made certain to have your drones' criminal records swept clean, -tell- me you are not falling in with this would-be revolutionary." He lowers his hand and looks straight at Soundwave in the optics. "It's a fool's quest, you know this idea of his. Oh I'm certain it all seems very grand in his head, this untrained, uneducated plebian who is still whining about not being given the caste he wanted, but in the end he's not a -soldier- and when Sentinel finally gets around to it, he'll be a -dead- uneducated plebian." His tone turns pleading to the point of condescention. "You're not foolish enough to risk what you have now just to die in the mire with him, are you? I thought better of you." Soundwave listens to this, listens to Ratbat call his friends "drones" like they had no consciousness, no lives, no worth of their own. Listens to Ratbat speak of Megatron's "fool's quest". This singularly breathtaking, revolutionary, planet-cleansing and UPLIFTING vision of his that can...nay, WILL bring Cybertron and its people back to their roots- back to what they can be, what they SHOULD be- an inspiration to the galaxy itself. A world of unity and clarity where every individual is finally afforded not only the opportunity, but the /DUTY/ to be everything that they /can be/. Soundwave thinks this, but would never be so foolish to voice it. The colors in his head are a riotous rainbow of passionate hues and tones.... but he keeps his spoken words dull, cold, gray. Just the way the Senate likes them. "Senator Ratbat. Sir." He begins respectfully. Because Ratbat will probably like that. "You took me from the ghettos and gave me a place by your side. You have given me training, and focus, and opportunities I could not even imagine before." And that is true, though perhaps not in the way Ratbat might think. "I am dedicated to /Cybertron/. You are /Cyberton's government/. Therefore, how could betraying you even cross my mind?" He gives a momnent's pause, then reminds the Senator. "You assigned me to Megatron. You sent me to learn what he was doing. To strike a deal with him- to gain his trust. And that... petro-rabbit's burrow has led far deeper than either of us realized. You sent me to learn his every secret... to do so I must have his trust. I must *appear* to be one of them." Whether or not Ratbat believes that statement is something the mech keeps to himself. It's entirely possible Soundwave could read his mind without him being aware of it, but if Soundwave were to act on that information and thus tips his hand, Ratbat would destroy him without a moment's hesitation. Even when Soundwave has incredible power, Ratbat can still find a means to trump him. It's good enough. "Good. As well-meaning as those plattitudes are they should stay in the pits, where they belong. They're good for a sales pitch but there's simply no way he could achieve what he thinks he will. He'll be dead soon enough." The mech drums his fingers on the armest of the chair. "Video, display file SH03-13X-21B," he announces to the holoemitter, which changes the view to a personnel file... one Soundwave will know. "We need to scrub any trace of our connection to the Institute. Fortunately that's been done, all except for one factor. /Her/." He points at an image of a copper and black speeder femme, the one used in a combiner experiment. "She is the only link left and she'll use that information if she's wise. There is -nothing- more dangerous than a compromised spy. That's why I want you to -find- her and -eliminate- her. Use any tools necessary at your command, and I want her chassis brought back to make -certain- she's dead." Soundwave does reach out for the Senator's mind... he can do that without Ratbat knowing, after all. But indeed, he would not act on it. Not yet, at least. He flexes his mind, but the big blue boxy mech's frame remains still, save for a slight nod of the head. "Understood. Rebellion: Stirs the sparks of the unruly, but ultimately inferior against the wisdom and experience of those who... protect the people." Well, understood that Ratbat believes this, at least. Upon receiving the orders to destroy Shiftlock, Soundwave's optics flicker ever-so-slightly. "I see. Very well... it shall be done." Soundwave has gotten used to having to lie to Ratbat. He's not fond of it, but appearances have to be mainatained. He's met Shiftlock. She was a shifter- a unique individual, just like him. But then she snapped- attacking Ratbat and fleeing for her life. Soundwave... could not really blame her. His only complaint would have been in the timing of it all, and would have urged her towards patience. Patience makes all things possible. It's a way of life he follows to this day. ( She knew the list. She'd be able to warn them. It was good to let her run for awhile, stirring up more dissent, encouraging more pit fights, but this is getting out of hand. It was supposed to be a controlled disruption to spike production in the munitions sector when more police were employed to deal with the Decepticons... ) Ratbat is thinking only of profit, and he has no less than twenty economic shifts in the market processing through his brain module at once. "Thank you Soundwave, that is all," Ratbat replies, dissmissing the other mech with a wave of his hand. "I've given you a hazard bonus for your work, Enjoy yourself, and make certain you and your deployers are fully maintained." Soundwave picks up on this all, and... well, this is interesting. The Senator thought that this fire could be stoked just far enough to stay comfortable and warm by, but kept under control? Funny how that fire is beginning to burn in ways Ratbat never expected... could never comprehend just how far and fast and HOT that fire is going to burn. Soundwave simply nods. "Affirmative." With that, he turns to leave.